Barre deals with underground gasoline leak

Up to 3,000 gallons have spilled from a Wesco-owned station, emergency officials say, the company's third leak in Vermont since 1998

Dec. 12, 2012

Lt. Nick Copping, left, and Firefighter Jenn Dumont of the Barre City Fire Department, use a meter to check for gas in a sewer on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 in Barre, Vt. Officials in the Vermont city of Barre are dealing with they are calling a significant underground gasoline leak. The city fire marshal says the spill is from a gas station and up to 3,000 gallons of gasoline may have leaked into the ground. The fire marshal says the gasoline has migrated into the sewer system so many people are detecting the smell of gasoline fumes in their homes. / AP Photo/Toby Talbot

Written by

Lisa Rathke

Associated Press

Workers check gas pumps at the North End Deli Mart on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 in Barre, Vt. Officials in the Vermont city of Barre are dealing with they are calling a significant underground gasoline leak.The city fire marshal says the spill is from a gas station and up to 3,000 gallons of gasoline may have leaked into the ground. The fire marshal says the gasoline has migrated into the sewer system so many people are detecting the smell of gasoline fumes in their homes. / AP Photo/Toby Talbot

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BARRE — A failure in an underground hose at a Barre gas station allowed as much as 3,000 gallons of fuel to leak into the ground, with some finding its way into the sewer system, environmental and emergency responders said Wednesday.

With the leak at the North End Deli on North Main Street fixed, state officials were trying to determine the extent of the spill, where the gasoline is going, how to keep it out of the sewer system and remove it from the soil. The leak was the third from Wesco in Vermont since 1998, including one last year in Essex.

It’s not unusual for gas stations to spill gasoline inadvertently, but this case was unusual because the gas ended up in the sewage line. In Barre, some residents had detected gasoline fumes in their homes as long as three weeks ago after the fuel migrated into the sewer system.

The leak was traced Tuesday to the gas station.

“We are confident that the source of the leak has been found and secured,” said Joseph Aldsworth, deputy Barre City fire chief.

Wednesday, the city removed manhole covers and installed fans to ventilate the sewage system. Most of the gasoline in the system was expected to evaporate.

The gasoline vapors in the sewage system never reached explosive levels, said Christopher Herrick, head of Vermont’s hazardous response team. Nor did the gasoline reached levels that would harm human health, officials said.

Residents who smell gas in their homes were asked to call 476-6613. Anyone who experienced symptoms that they believe were related to the gasoline exposure, such as dizziness and nausea, were asked to call 911.

“I want to apologize to anyone who has been impacted by this. We are truly sorry for this incident,” said David Simendinger, Wesco’s president.

He said a worst-case scenario is that “we could be missing up to 3,000 gallons of gasoline.”

“I think within a few days we’ll have this mitigated,” said Simendinger, who said he did not know the cost of the cleanup might be.

Aldsworth said his department has dealt with 13 reports of a strong gasoline smell during the past three weeks in homes near the station. The reports came from North Main, Beckley, Pleasant, Fortney and Second streets.

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The intensity of the odor increased Wednesday, Aldsworth said, citing reports from nearby residents. Nobody was been evacuated, and no streets are closed, but manhole covers are open and surrounded by barricades to allow gas fumes to ventilate from the sewer system, Aldsworth said.

This is the third incident involving a gas leak or environmental problem at a Vermont Wesco-affiliated filling station in recent years.

In May 2011, tenants at the Big Lots Shopping Center in Essex Junction, adjacent to a Champlain Farms gas station, complained of gas fumes rising from storm drains. Owner David Simendinger contested claims that underground tanks or pipes had leaked, though the state ordered tanks removed and replaced.

Champlain Farms is an arm of Wesco.

In July 2010, the Vermont Environmental Court fined Wesco $25,000 for failing to report suspected leaks beneath the Rotary Gulf station in Burlington, and for failing to maintain leak detection equipment.

In 2007, Simendinger unsuccessfully brought a selective-enforcement lawsuit against Vermont following a broad range of air quality and hazardous waste violations.

A 1998, gasoline leak at a Wesco owned Exxon station in Winooski sent fumes at near explosive levels into the area’s sewer system. Fumes also seeped into nearby homes. The leak, caused by a loose underground pipe fitting, cost at least $40,000 to clean up.

Officials in Barre are holding a news conference Wednesday afternoon to provide more information about the latest leak.